The Fashion Plate Magazine

Hôtel Americano sits at the center of contemporary art and life in Manhattan. The 56-room hotel, transformed from a parking garage in Chelsea, is now a 10-story, metal mesh-wrapped boutique hotel with a rooftop pool.

The view from the top will bowl you over: West Chelsea’s brownstones, the skyscrapers of east midtown, and the Chrysler Building’s coy Art Deco steeple.

Trendy young art aficionados gather around the pool, laughing and sipping chili-rimmed mescal cocktails. An artist from the gallery around the corner calls you over to the tapas table to meet some of her friends. Tropicalia pumps in through the speakers, and a warm breeze tousles your hair. Sounds perfect? It is.

The duo behind Hôtel Americano, Carlos Couturier and Moisés Micha, built the hotel out of passion. The two Mexican entrepreneurs moved from citrus farming to investment banking and now boutique hospitality. Both are avid art collectors active in the Mexican art community.

Couturier and Micha are passionately committed to investing in the regions in which they build their hotels. Their Grupo Habita collection has grown to include 12 diverse properties, from Acapulco to downtown Manhattan.

“We use a local team every time we build a hotel, and we read the surroundings and their traditions to integrate the local culture into our project,” explains Couturier.

Hôtel Americano features a warm minimalist interiors which open to an outdoor rooftop pool. In-room Ipads brim with recommendations for the best local galleries, restaurants, and shops, while bicycles afford guests a closer look at the High Line and Hudson River Park. Chelsea’s world-class galleries and local flavor are right outside their door. Guests become a part of the local scene from the moment they arrive.

Award-winning Mexico City-based architect Enrique Norten transformed the former garage into a sophisticated, quasi-industrial facade that opens to dynamic spaces, with two restaurants, a lobby café and two basement bars. The hotel design features a Latin spin on contemporary downtown style with distinct Mexican touches, such as the outdoor rooftop pool.

Both Couturier and Micha wanted architecture that would reflect Hôtel Americano’s urban location but still create a sense of escape.

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